WITH reference to the article Lip Service, (The Press, May 10), I find it very difficult to get my head around the attitudes schools have when it comes to piercings.

A piercing doesn't make someone's attitude or personality change, so why do schools insist on excluding these children?

If it is solely a safety issue, then why are children allowed to wear hooped earrings? Surely these pose a greater hazard than a small stud in the lip?

I have a daughter myself in her last year of secondary school, and many of her friends have suffered the same treatment because of their piercings.

I just can't understand why a child's education should suffer because of this. It's about time the education authority came into the 21st century and realised, whether we like it or not, that teenagers nowadays follow different fashions to years ago, when such accessories didn't exist.

We need to change our attitudes with the times we live in or we may find ourselves stuck in a time-warp. Which brings me to the point which Mrs A Waller makes in her letter to The Press on May 16 (Praise For School). No, there is no age limit on piercings, so keep a close eye on your child when he/she starts secondary school. They do change, like it or not!

Lisa Pratt,

Bellwood Drive,

Foxwood,

York.

Updated: 09:47 Tuesday, May 23, 2006